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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: ADT, Altria, Biogen, Chewy, Deere, Dollar Tree, eBay, Intel, Nike, Kroger, Peloton, Roku, Schwab, Wells Fargo and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: December 2, 2019 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 12:40 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Monday after a shortened Thanksgiving week in the United States. The major equity indexes set all-time highs again last week. Investors are starting to see upside targets issued for 2020, but there still many pressing issues and risks now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider what changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Monday, December 2, 2019.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $81 from $65 at Robert W. Baird.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, with the firm noting that the sell-off has been too much and that cigarette volumes are likely to improve as vaping concerns take deeper root. Altria closed at $49.70 on Friday, with a consensus target price of $52.32.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $1,300 from $1,275 (versus a $1,177.02 prior close) at Wells Fargo.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $250 target price (versus a $299.81 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its target price was lifted to $50 from $35 (versus a $49.50 close) at UBS.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was reiterated as Neutral with a $30 price target (versus a $24.76 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm believes that the recent selling pressure ahead of the lockup expiration on December 11 has been overdone as the street fears that about 89% of Chewy shares are eligible for sale. Despite a Neutral rating, the firm sees more upside than downside, and it still implies more than 20% upside.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, but Citigroup maintained its Buy rating while lowering its target to $196 from $200. Deere closed down 0.6% at $168.05 last Friday and it was indicated down 1.2% at $166 on Monday. The consensus target price is $178.80.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was maintained with a Neutral rating at Citigroup, but the firm cut its target price to $103 from $120 in the call. Shares closed down 1.7% at $91.46 last Friday, but they were closer to $112.50 last week before earnings.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $58 target price (versus a $53.37 close) at Morgan Stanley.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was reiterated as Market Perform but its target price was raised to $45 from $43 (versus a $35.52 close) at Wells Fargo. eBay has a consensus target price of $40.13.

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Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that weak guidance hit this travel giant hard. The shares last closed at $101.66, with a consensus price target of $130.82.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $29 from $25 (versus a $24.72 close) at Citigroup.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $70 from $65 at Merrill Lynch. Intel closed down 0.8% at $58.05 on Friday, with a $56.53 consensus target price.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) was started as Outperform with a $53 target price at BNP Paribas. Shares closed down 0.2% at $46.34 on Friday, with a consensus target price of $46.73.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $200 from $182 (versus a $151.12 close) at Barclays,

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $118 from $108 (versus a $93.49 close) at Morgan Stanley. Nike had a consensus target price of $102.07 ahead of this call.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $31 from $29 at Wells Fargo. Shares closed up 0.4% at $27.34 on Friday, and the consensus target price is $27.52.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $45 from $32 (versus a $35.23 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Shares closed up almost 10% last Friday, and the consensus target price was $31.79.

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $260 from $290 (versus a $210.68 close) at Argus. Its consensus target price is $237.08, and its 52-week range is $193.89 to $266.78.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this cloud security stock is seeing major growth. Shares most recently closed at $87.51, with a consensus price target of $93.95.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $110 target price (versus a $160.37 close) at Morgan Stanley. It was indicated down over 7% at $148.00 on Monday, and its prior consensus analyst target was $141.04.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $180 from $147 (versus a $149.22 prior close) at Goldman Sachs.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $305 from $260 at Barclays. The stock closed down 0.3% at $279.87 on Friday, and its consensus target price was $291.44 at the time.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. The firm sees weak earnings, a fourth year of revenue decline, weak loan growth, lower income growth prospects, trouble recruiting new talent and pressure to remain on its net interest margin. Wells Fargo closed up 0.2% at $54.46 on Friday and was indicated down 0.1% at $54.40 on Monday. It has a $50.96 consensus target price.

Here are eight well-known stocks for which multiple analysts have issued Buy and Outperform ratings and higher target prices after strong earnings reactions.

In case you were out already, here are last Wednesday’s top analyst calls, including Alibaba, Analog Devices, Autodesk, Best Buy, Charles Schwab, Dell Technologies, Dollar Tree, HP, Occidental Petroleum and Under Armour. Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agilent, Ambarella, Barclays, Bluebird Bio, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Honeywell, McDonald’s Nutanix, Nvidia, PagSeguro and many more.